Medical Update--Possible Setback.

Am I correct in suspecting that you're not in an urban area? Given all the complications you've already had, have you considered going to a major teaching/research medical center? Might be worth any inconvenience.

(Forgive me if I'm way off track. I don't remember all the details you've posted before, mostly that this has been going on and on and is complicated and painful. And I feel bad for you.)

Ah, Vancouver is good! I remembered your saying "the best", but I wasn't sure of the context. Was worried that maybe you were in some rural area with few specialists where "best" wouldn't have been saying much. Sorry.

No worries. I don't think I brought up my location in this thread. I forgot to mention that I'm not infected and they said it's not gout which was my running theory. There is some arthritis in my foot but nothing to that extent.

Well, I recently got a tentative date for the surgery. They've circled Jan 2015. Don't have a specific date yet, but should get that really soon, I'm also on the cancellation list so will have potentially to move up the list should anyone reschedule or outright cancel.

My first surgery back in 07 was on a cancellation, it happened a couple of months earlier than it was booked. This doesn't surprise me, I expected to be booked either sometime in December or early Jan.

I'm okay. Still a lot of pain, not much I can do about that, been excising and dieting to lose weight. The weather has affected the foot as well, it's been "on and off" the past couple of weeks pain wise. Mostly try to stay off of it, but will occasionally have short walks in the afternoon as I've been encouraged to do so.

Going back to physio to realign myself since my coverage has rebooted for the year. That's about all I have to update.

Thanks for the update, Admiral_Young. The pain sucks, certainly, but you've got a great perspective about it. And it sounds like there's an end to this particular road in sight (the surgeries) so hopefully that will come along sooner than you're thinking.

Thanks for the well wishes. I was hoping there would be better news, but it is what it is, perhaps I'll get my definitive date soon.

The weather seems to be an important factor and a double edged sword no matter what it is. If you guys remember during the summer the heat was masking the pain but would trigger the swelling. The cold has affected the arthritis and whatever is actually wrong with the foot...so it should be interesting to see what spring time holds here. We had a pretty mild one last year, so hopefully it will be similar this year.

Btw, it sounds propably quite crazy but the pain might get better if you stick your foot into a bowl with warm sand. I have arthrosis in my fingers and when it's in an active phase it hurts terribly. My GP who has the same prob recommened that old home remedy to me. I use nice clean sand from the beach and heat it up in the oven. I suppose it should also be possible to heat it in a microwave.
Sand surrounds the limb from all sides, thus distributing the warmth equallly but contrary to water it stays warm very long. Maybe it'll help your ankle as well as it helps my fingers.

There's also those sand-filled pillowy things that you can heat up in the oven or microwave and apply to body parts that need it. I used to use one for my chronic stiff necks (before I cured my chronic stiff necks by quitting my job ).

Congratulations, Admiral. I'm glad they moved up your surgery. That was a long wait.

Over here we use cherry stones in these pillows They keep the heat nicely and it's a cool way (oops, pun not intended!) to use trash in a useful way.

Ziyal the sand remedy appears to be a very old trick. My new GP had never heard of it but my old one who is now in his 80s used it frequently to ease his arthrosis.

Admiral you needn't necessarily use beach sand. The sand you get in DIY stores or in pet shops works just as well (e.g. Chinchilla sand). You should just try and get rather round sand. Chinchilla sand is often broken material and scrapes at the skin while round sand from rivers or beaches feels softer. But both keep the heat equally good.
If heat causes swelling, perhaps you could try to alternate hot and cold treatments in 2-3 minute intervals? It'd improve the blood flow and that might lessen the pain.